( for non Brits The Observer is a mildly left of Centre Serious Sunday)

The identity debate
'They threatened my life. But I will still speak out'

Ed Husain exposed Islamist activism in the heart of Britain. Here he tells what followed

I was on a train going home after a hard day's work. My controversial book, The Islamist, had been in bookshops for only a week. My mobile phone had taken on a new life, constantly ringing as journalists wanted to arrange interviews, get comments. The calls registered as 'anonymous caller' most times. So I was glad to see the name of a Muslim friend appear on my phone screen.

'Salam Alaikum!' I said. 'How are you?' My friend was in no mood for niceties. He was blunt and sharp as he warned me to stay away from a particular London mosque: 'You won't escape safely. Do you hear?'

I was perplexed. All week Muslim 'community leaders' had been rapping me on the knuckles for attacking, in my book, those who managed the mosque and its various octopus-like arms. 'They've changed, Ed,' was an argument I heard a lot. 'They're not connected to extremism or violence.' So how was it that peace-loving Islamists at this mosque would want to attack me?

My friend made me promise that I would not ask him how he knew that among those who attended the mosque and had been angered by The Islamist were some who would not tolerate its author worshipping on their property or walking in its vicinity. 'They're thugs,' he said. 'They'll attack you, no question about it. Just keep away.' I thanked my friend for tipping me off and went about my daily business.

I was once an activist at that mosque so I know well about its links to international Islamist organisations. I wrote The Islamist knowing that I would be removing the masks of those who, until very recently, were walking in and out of Downing Street masquerading as moderate Muslims. They were Islamists, not ordinary Muslims. By night they taught from the works of Syed Qutb and Abul Ala Mawdudi, the godfathers of al-Qaeda ideology; by day, they laid wreaths at the Cenotaph standing beside politicians and diplomats. When journalists probed the ideological links of organisations such as the Islamic Foundation or the Muslim Council of Britain, they were discredited as Islamophobes.

Islamists had successfully blurred the difference between Islam and Islamism. Islam is an age-old spiritual tradition, with 1,400 years of civilisation and scholarship behind it. Islamism is a political ideology influenced by Marxism and has a Year Zero mentality, starting in the Fifties in the Middle East.

As I exposed Islamism (and as a Muslim and former Islamist I could not be as easily discredited as non-Muslim journalists) the vicious slander machine from Islamists came into play. To my shock and horror, even moderate Muslims who had familial and professional or business ties with Islamists started to spread rumours in the British Muslim community that I was an MI5 agent, a government stooge, a neo-con, a liar, and out to make money.

Spiritual Muslims and scholars advised me in private to persevere. 'Carry on, brother,' said one. And then hugging me, 'Allah will strengthen you.' Those moments of love and support kept me going. But soon the threats and slander reached worrying new levels.

While Islamists of various shades continued to grind the rumour mill, mainstream British journalists and commentators brought their own political baggage to the debate. I have been accused of giving fodder to the far right and being naive. The logical conclusion of such facile arguments is that I should remain silent, and allow Islamists to continue to grow in strength in Britain. For me, that is not an option. For me, Islamism transcends the left-right division of everyday politics.

Since publication of The Islamist I have been emboldened by the support I have received from several other former Islamists. From two Islamist organisations, leading members have resigned or have been expelled as a result of asking questions that the leadership did not want to hear. But rather than wither away, as many have done previously, these brave young men have quietly started grassroots initiatives to challenge and confront extremist ideology. No government is behind this effort. They do it out of love and dedication to their Islamic faith, to regain Islam from those who have politicised our scriptures and created a paralysing and destructive ideology: Islamism.

The Islamist has illustrated to them and to wider society that one can be a devout Muslim without having to be an Islamist. The two are distinct and often contradictory. For example, one wing of Islamists call for a single caliph to control the affairs of the world's one billion Muslims as a religious obligation. But historically, Muslims have always had simultaneous, multiple political leaderships: the Ottomans, Moghuls, Safavids. And these empires did not control Muslim populations in China and Africa. Much of Islamism can be dismantled when analysed in light of history and orthodox scholarship.

Islamists fear open scrutiny of their beliefs, especially when conducted by former Islamists. I have openly challenged Hizb ut-Tahrir to shed its calls for a totalitarian, expansionist Islamist state that has jihad as foreign policy, and a commitment to destroying Israel, confronting the West and killing non-Muslims and Muslims who oppose the advancing army of the Islamist state. This rhetoric of killing and jihad is the preamble to terrorism.

From my involvement with Hizb ut-Tahrir I know it to be a sophisticated organisation: it rarely ever pulls the trigger. It raises the temperature and allows others to do the deed. That is how the murder of an innocent young man, Ayotunde Obonobi, took place in Newham in 1995. Islamists and jihadists use the internet more than any other means for exchanging information and ideas. It is on websites that news of 'traitors' to the Muslim nation, or ummah, is broken, and death sentences issued.

I am not a traitor - my fidelity is to humanity and God. Not tribalism.

What sort of Britain are we creating in which we are fearful of speaking our minds because of stabbings and executions? British values of freedom and tolerance, developed over centuries, have no meaning in certain quarters of Britain. More than ever, we have a duty to define Britishness and teach children and newcomers how Britain developed democracy, tolerance, plurality, and why these are cherished, non-negotiable values. As a Muslim, I believe in fate and an afterlife. Talk of execution will not cow me; I will carry on.

What is intriguing about this account (although I have yet to read his book) is the fact that in Bliar's Britain, ANY criticism of the Moslem community from WHATEVER source challenges the political orthodoxy
(in much the same way that taking a pop at Israel brands you instantly as anti-semitic, a Holocaust denyer and probably related to Heydrich)......it will be interesting to see how the Labour party and its chatterati bien-pensants line up to criticise Mr Husain's book and his views........the rebuttal and smear machine will be in full swing this week....standby, standby.

Much as it has been quarrelled over by Muslims, there isn't a single Islam: there are Islams, just as there are Britains. This diversity is true of all traditions, religions or nations even though some of their adherents have futiley tried to draw boundaries around themselves and pin their creeds down neatly.

As I've commented on in earlier threads, there is a change taking place in the Muslim body politic, and numerous Muslims, scholars and ordinary joes are sick to death of these w@nkers.

Thanks be to whichever God you may believe in that someone has had the bravery and sense of honour to say the unsayable.

The difference between Islam and what has been taught by certain unscrupulous so called imams has been obvious to anyone with eyes in their head for a long time. Now finally the 'racist' jibe can not be raised, either by the Islamists or the PC chatterati in Islington.

My congratulations to a man who believes in truth, and who has the bravery to stand up for it!!! I'll be on my way to buy his book as soon as I can!

My question for you is this, will the moderate and sensible Islamic leaders continue to speak out and prevail over their antisocial peers when the latter turn to violence?

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Using religion as a reason to cause mayhem is nothing new (5 decade spanning Op BANNER anyone?) and I've always felt uncomfortable when I've heard people claiming all muslims are terrorists, as I do, and I hope most people do when they hear anything genuinley racist. I think the government would do well to protect brave young people like Ed Hussein so they have a chance to carry on the fight to protect their religion and help stop extremists murdering anymore innocents.